DAKAR, Senegal — Residents of Bamako, the capital of Mali, waited in tension and uncertainty on Saturday for the outcome of a military coup d’état that overthrew the country’s elected government last week, ending more than 20 years of democracy in the nation.

Regional analysts and residents said little appeared to be resolved as junta leaders struggled to maintain control amid increasing international isolation and persistent rumors of an imminent countercoup. State television, seized early on by the coup leaders, went off the air for an hour on Friday night as soldiers set up barricades around the downtown building housing it.

Later, Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, the coup leader who had received military training in the United States, appeared briefly to assure viewers of his “good health,” followed by repeated declarations of support for the junta from young people and other backers, many using the same language. Speaking of the countercoup rumors, a military spokesman, Col. Idrissa Traore, said Saturday that there was “nothing serious in all that.”r on Friday night as soldiers set up barricades around the downtown building housing it.

Bamako, Mali (CNN) -- Mali's junta leader Capt. Amadou Sanogo decried looting of offices and shops in the capital, Bamako, but deflected blame from his renegade soldiers who staged a coup just weeks before scheduled elections. Sanogo blamed "ill-intentioned" people who were against the military takeover in Mali, once hailed as a shining example of African democracy.

Vandals ransacked Bamako, after food, fuel and basic commodities became scarce. "I deplore the acts of vandalism and pillaging which have occurred," Sanogo said on state television late Friday, urging Malians to stop the vandalism.

"This is not our mission, this is not our cause, this is not our objective," he said.